History & Heritage 
 

The Metković family house was built in the 1930s, constructed by three brothers and two sisters in a traditional style using local building materials.

Stone was sourced from excavations, and the binding material was lime produced

in kilns still present today near the beach.
The horizontal and roof structure of the house was made from cypress wood cut on the family estate. According to local folklore, when a father had a son,

he was obligated to plant at least 50 such trees so that he could later fence his house when he started his own family.
These were extremely labor-intensive tasks, as the entire summer was spent cutting down the forest to prepare enough firewood for burning the stone, which would melt into lime. At that time, there was no electricity, so everything was done manually,

with horses, mules, and donkeys being the only help in transporting construction materials to the site (lime, water, wood, etc.).
The traditional construction style was a suitable way of life, with the upper floor of the house designated for living, and the ground floor serving as cellars for storing agricultural products (wine, oil, dried figs, carob, and other crops cultivated on the 48,000 m2 estate).
The income from agriculture financed the construction of the house, along with assistance from the eldest brother who had emigrated to Argentina to earn money for himself and his family. At that time, many people emigrated to North and South America in search of a better life and with the goal of helping their families survive and preserve their estates. Hard life, strenuous work, and frequent wars forced people in this region to leave for the world, so today we have a situation where more Croats live outside Croatia than in their homeland, which is a characteristic of our family.
Upon returning from America in 1966, Mato Metković transformed the family house into a vacation home and named it "Villa Palma," a name it still carries today. 
Thanks to all the efforts of Metkovic family over the generations the house and the estate still continues to provide all organic produce (olives, oranges, grapes, figs, ...) to the family and their guests. Enabling a truly authentic experience at the estate.

Niksa, Mato’s son, and the family continue to put love and effort to maintain this piece of paradise to the best of their ability.
Given the complete reconstruction, architects advised demolishing the old house and building a new one. However, we didn't want to demolish the four exterior walls that were the only ones left in the house, even though financially, this made the work more cumbersome and expensive.
Once, when I told a friend that I might have should have listened to the architects and demolished everything, he consoled me in an interesting way and said,

"but you preserved the soul of the house."
Perhaps, unconsciously, he was right, as over 6,000 people have stayed and enjoyed their vacations in that house since it was first rented out. If someone left just a gram of laughter or kindness, it accumulated a lot because I remember from my childhood happy people, stories, laughter, and joy. 
We produce organic extra virgin olive oil from olives planted on our estate over 250 years ago, wine made from Vranac grapes originating from Macedonia and Greece.

Many oranges and lemons grow in the large orchard around the house, from which we make jam, and from carob, medlar, grapes, and walnuts, we produce homemade liqueurs.
The house has been renovated with traditional materials, most of the furniture is handmade, and modern equipment is used to achieve 5-star luxury.

We invested a lot of effort, not sparing time or money, to provide original and authentically Mediterranean service with discreet luxury.
The third generation now runs this business, and the experiences and knowledge gained over the years have helped us offer and present

the Mediterranean way of life in its original form to our guests.

The uniqueness of the western bay of Molunat, where our estate and house are located,

lies in the absence of any construction, making it probably the only undeveloped or untouched by human hands bay on the mainland part of the Adriatic.
We look forward to and will strive to provide you with an unforgettable and original experience if you decide to be our guests.

Our distinctiveness lies in the experience, heritage, and knowledge gained through 60 years of renting, and glimpse of it can be found in the reviews of our old guests,

whose children still come today and fondly remember the wonderful moments and time spent in Villa Palma in Molunat what is rare in modern tourism.
Villa Palma is a true beauty, a place where you "hear the silence" and enjoy the beauty of untouched nature with all your senses. In the truest sense,

it is "the Mediterranean as it once was."

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